Unexpected Mother Figure
by HowAboutThat
Summary: Mabel wants the night to be perfect, but she's left in devastation. Can a certain great uncle manage to make her night better? Rated T for no real reason other than I do no K or M. [Written before Tale of Two Stans]


HAT: Just a little (late) Mother's Day something while I'm on a Gravity Falls kick. I'mma say kinda AU since I wanna add my own twist to things.

 **Disclaimer: I won nothing aside from the plot... and technically OCs, I guess.**

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Mabel pouts as she tries to tame her hair and looks in the mirror unsatisfied. Her brown locks are everywhere and seemingly untamable and too much to try and get through the knots. Today was going to be a special day because Gravity Falls was hosting a dance/ball (no one knew for sure so everyone had to prepare for either one) and she wanted to look her best for that night. Dipper already has his tux picked out and has his hair done in a way that makes it cover his hair naturally and look nice. She _had_ a dress picked out, but Waddles spilled God knows what on and now her big night is ruined.

Her bottom lip trembles and a whimper escapes her lips despite how she tries not to and then she beings to cry. Dipper- thankfully- is out trying (and most likely failing) at getting a date with Wendy to the dance and Soos was most likely doing whatever Soos' do and her Grunkle Stan will be scamming some tourists by now so she won't have anyone catch her- the happy-go-lucky and peppy girl cry. She just wanted tonight to be special.

 _I want my mom,_ she thinks, trying to rub fruitlessly at her eyes to dry them.

Her mother is an amazing woman. She can do anything and always knows what to do to make things better, but right now she doesn't have her mother and with the woman's illness slowly killing her Mabel may not ever see her again.

That's the real reason that the twins were sent to spend the summer with their great uncle was so that they wouldn't have to see their mother wither away and die before their eyes.

There's a knock on the door, a quick one and only a two seconds (at most) pass before the door opens enough for her to hear the familiar gruff voice of her uncle. "Hey, kid, I think I left my eyepatch in here, have you-... what's wrong?"

At first Mabel and Dipper disliked him knocking quickly then entering, but he defended himself that if anyone in the room were indecent that they would quickly shout to wait like a normal person and that he gives more than enough time to allow them to respond and reminds them that he's never walked in on them when they were indecent (save for that one time when Dipper was singing "Disco Girl," but that was because there was an unsaid schedule and Dipper stayed in there longer than normal) and they grew into the habit. If they thought back they remember their mother doing the same thing, but eventually it faded away when she started sending their father to knock so they've come to realize who she got the habit from (the twins had a theory that their parents families were close and Gunkle Stan was around a lot more before he separated from them for some unknown reason).

"N-nothing," the girl answers stubbornly, furiously wiping her tears away with her already soaked sweater sleeve and hide her face from him.

"Mabel, sweetie," he says with a surprising amount of softness in his tone as he kneels down to get to eye level with her. "You don't have to lie to me."

Her watery brown eyes look into his own and she can see nothing, but earnestly in them so the dam bursts and she quickly spouts out her problems from her hair to her dress to even her mother. He listens with a patience that she- as well as most- never realized that he possessed. He rubs her back soothingly as he listens with grim silence and a light frown on his face that makes him look even older than he usually does.

"I just want to skip tonight."

With a sigh he cradles her face between his large hands and rubs his rough, calloused thumbs under her eyes gently to attempt to dry her eyes. "Listen, sweetie, we're not always gonna be happy in life, but I promise you that the sad moments in life aren't going to last. They're just temporary and put there so that we can appreciate the good days better, understand?"

She nods slowly. "Yeah, I think so."

"Now... let's get you ready for that dance... ball... thing," he says gruffly, standing up and grabbing her a clean sweater to put on.

"I don't have a dress and I don't wanna go anymore," she pouts in defeat.

"C'mon, you've been looking forward to this thing for weeks. I'm not gonna have my baby girl miss anything she's been that eager for!"

Mabel stares up at her grunkle and slowly a small smile forms on her lips. "Okay," she replies quietly.

 _I'm his baby girl,_ she thinks as he leaves her to get ready.

After quickly changing into a new sweater, cleaning up her face, and pulling her messy hair into a ponytail she makes her way downstairs and finds Stan standing near the door twirling his keys in his hand and catching them repetitively like he always does when they're about to take the car and he has to wait on others. His dark brown eyes are looking out of the window and his gaze is contemplative and almost melancholic-like.

"I'm ready," she says with a cheerful tone.

He gives her a grin and catches his keys for the last time. "Alright, let's go!"

He opens the door for her and locks it behind the both of them before the two of them jump in the car. He allows her to listen to the girlies songs in existence because he knows they're a bit of a pick-me-up and that she most definitely needs it.

"Where're we going?" She asks when she notices him drive past the usual store where they buy clothes (the cheapest place in Gravity Falls).

"We're gonna get you the perfect dress," he insists, eyes scanning the side of the road before he makes a satisfied noise. "Here we are!"

The two walk inside and she immediately looks at the price tags and her eyes bulge. "W-we don't have to do this. All of this is too expensive."

"Nonsense!" Stan claims with a strained voice, going to the dresses that cost one thousand dollars and more. "Anything for my girl."

Her eyes glance back to the dresses that cost around one hundred and then reluctantly follows him. "We can go over there, Grunkle Stan, they seem cheaper."

He frowns. "Alright... How about you look around anywhere, choose three dresses from any of the sections and then try them on for me to see."

"Okay!"

She rushes around, going through the dresses while her great uncle settles himself in a chair near the dressing rooms assigned for the men who have to wait on their wives, girlfriends, children, sisters, or any other female in any type of association. After about an hour he sees his great niece rushing into the dressing room with three different colored dresses: a cerulean blue, a deep purple, and a forest green. He settles back in his seat and waits several minutes before she comes out in her first dress: the blue dress.

"What do you think?"

He scrutinizes the dress and doesn't like how short the dress is nor the lowness of the v-neck. Even if he isn't her father, he's an uncle and uncles are- by some sort of unwritten law- allowed to be just as protective of their niece as the father is their daughter (A/N: Or is that just my family because all the males (uncles, cousins, etc.) (and females now that I think about it... so family) are overprotective of the girls).

"Eh, not too crazy about it. Try on the next one," he says, trying to keep the protective edge out of his voice.

She smiles when she turns around, glad to know how protective of her she is. To be honest she hadn't been as much of a fan of the dress after she put it on as when she had seen it hanging up, but she had told her grunkle that she would show him all three options. Actually this is the most expensive dress she's chosen. Next she puts on the green dress and thinks it's better than the first... much better than the first. She nearly squeals with happiness at the fact that it looks good on her, but she contains her excitement and walks out with a smile.

"Better. Go try on the third so we can choose."

She did just that and found it to be just as good as the green one, but her excitement for it is less than the previous. She walks out and he looks at it and then frowns. "What?"

"None of them suit you... they don't do you justice... Wait right there," he says, going back into the jungle of dresses. Several minutes of searching and mentally picturing each dress and it's color on Mabel before he gives a firm nod to himself and goes to the dressing rooms again and holds it out to her. "Here, try this on."

Mabel had never thought of Grunkle Stan as any sort of fashion expert (maybe for himself sometimes since the suit and his other dressier outfits make him look slim) and if at all _not_ for any women. She puts on the dress and bunks in surprise at how great it looks. It's a beautiful burnt orange dress that reaches her ankles and frills out from the waist (A/N: Picture it however you want, I like letting your imagination running wild).

She walks out and Stan's eyes widen in surprise. He knew it'd look good on her, but he didn't know how stunning his niece would look/ He's actually quite proud of himself and he's come to the realization that she won't be a little girl anymore.

"How do I look?" Mabel asks, snapping him out of his stupor.

He smiles softly. "You look beautiful, sweetheart."

She grins. "This is the dress!"

"Yes it is. Go get changed and I'll pay for it," he grunts.

When he sees her go into the changing room he looks down in his wallet and smiles. His girl's worth five hundred seventy-nine dollars and more than that. This time he won't steal the dress (and matching shoes he's found), instead he'll _buy_ them for her to make it an honest deal. She walks out holding the dress and he gently takes it from her and places it on the counter and starts counting the money as the cashier rings it up.

Mabel blinks at the price and glances at her great uncle with the expectation of him to take to take it and run, but instead he takes out the appropriate amount of money and hands it to the shocked cashier. His reputation of stinginess precedes him (that and a poster is handing behind the desk) and so this is one of the most surprising things to ever happen.

Perhaps the desert is cold and the arctic is hot because of this event.

"Thank you," the cashier says, handing over the dress.

"Thank you," he grunts, taking the dress and leading the way out of the store to his car.

"No one's ever gonna believe me when I tell them what happened," Mabel finally says.

He grins. "Yeah, I know they won't. I got a reputation to uphold."

They drive back to the Mystery Shack and after a few moments of entering the building she gasps. "I what about my hair?"

"Go get your brush and come back down," he says before remembering he's the one holding the dress. "Take this with you and leave it up there."

She does as asked and when she hands him the brush he sits down on the chair with his legs leaving enough room for a child to sit between them. She raises an eyebrow at him and he merely pats the seat between his legs.

"Um... you're gonna do my hair?"

"You act like I'm incapable, I mean have you seen my hair?" He asks, pulling off his fez to show off his well done gray hair.

Reluctantly she goes over and sits on the floor with her back facing him. He pulls out the scrunchie and then separates her hair in half and then takes the left side into his fist and pulls the brush along the tangles at the ends of her hair and then moves up. Mabel is surprised at the painless procedure of him brushing through her tangled hair and wonders if he's ever done it before and if not how long his hair was in his youth.

Soon the left side of her head is smooth and she runs hr fingers through her hair and it feels like silk. He repeats the process with the right side and then works on the "kitchen" which makes her whimper for a moment, but he apologizes and gets the last of the tangles out of her head with quick efficiency.

"Thanks," she says, moving to get up, but he puts and hand on her head.

"You're not done yet," he grumbles, pulling her hair into three even parts. "Gotta give it a special look for tonight... Where'd I put that glitter hairspray?"

"Why do you have glitter hair spray."

"A long road of bad decisions," he answers right before he lets out a triumphant cry. "Here it is!"

He sets it aside and begins to french braid her hair and soon enough it's handing over her left shoulder with the scrunchie at the end.

"I didn't know you could braid hair."

"I can do a lot of things. Go put on your dress and grab your robe," he orders.

"Aye, aye captain!"

He watches her run up the stairs and grimaces at the thought, _Soon she won't have a mother to help her with these things anymore. God knows her dad won't be up for raising up a young lady. Who am I to try?_ When she hears her humming happily as she comes down the stairs he internally sighs. _Her family. Both of them need a mother in their lives, but how would_ I _be able to fill that hole?_

More qualified than their father, that's for sure. _Perhaps they should stay with me for a little while after she's gone? Or maybe I should go up there?_

He decides to put these thoughts on hold as she comes down in her dress with the robe in her hands.

"Put the robe on over it."

She does as told and looks up at him. "Now what?"

"Close your eyes... tight," he adds after a thought. As soon as he's sure she's done as asked he shakes the can and begins to spray her hair. When he's satisfied he notices he has glitter on his suit and internally promises himself to take care of it later and sets down the can. "Alright, you're done... you look beautiful, sweetheart."

His heart squeezes at the sight of the girl that's been a ray of sunshine and... well, his little girl looking like a young woman.

She smiles. "Thank you, Grunkle Stan."

"No problem, kid," he says, kneeling down to receive his hug. When they finish hugging he looks at his watch. "This party thing's supposed to start in half an hour, where's your brother?"

"I dunno," she shrugs.

He sighs and looks down at the girl, once again his heart squeezing painfully. He can see her insecurity and frowns. Such a beautiful young girl shouldn't feel like this. She's stunning and so she should feel that way.

 _I guess I have to,_ he thinks as he uses his index finger to lift her chin and says the words he knows that her mother would say. "Listen, hun, you're a gorgeous and there's no reason to feel any less than that ever. You don't need to be in an expensive outfit with your hair done nice to be beautiful because you were already like that."

Mabel stares up at her grunkle and even though this man her father's uncle, she can't help but see her mother. Tears form in her eyes and she hugs him as hard as she can.

"H-hey, don't cry kid..." He sighs and gathers her in his arms and lets her cry onto his shoulder. "There, there, sweetheart. Let's get you cleaned up."

He carefully cleans her face with some old tricks he used to use when he didn't want anyone to know he'd been crying himself. Soon enough she's back to being composed and he hears Dipper rush inside. He sighs and takes Mabel downstairs and Dipper skids to a stop to stare at his sister.

"Wow, Mabel... you look beautiful... mom'd be so proud..." he gasps, a smile on his face before he frowns. "Great... now I have to fight a bunch of boys to keep them from getting all touchy feely on my sister."

Stan chuckles. "You'd better keep those boys off your sister."

Dipper shakes himself out of his thoughts and rushes upstairs to get changed. Stan grabs his keys and starts twirling them in the familiar way he's always done to wait for the twins to come down to leave for the ball/party shindig. He drives them and drops them off, only leaving when he sees Wendy and Soos greeting them. There were too many people (and- admittedly- things) that could snatch up his charges and he doesn't want to have to fight anything to get them back tonight.

He drives back home and sits in his shop all alone.

No one's ever known his past- he'd been sure to keep it that way- and he's never been one to think on the past for too long unless certain instances come about so no one ever knew he had a family. His wife had died giving birth and it'd been a baby girl. She died when she was younger than the twins because he wasn't careful enough (and he'd been _very_ overprotective of his little girl) and she'd be about two or three years older than the twins if she were alive. He had to be her mother as well as her father and so he's had a little experience (though not enough to help the girl through puberty, but he's sure when the time comes-if it hasn't already- he'll have to). He could try his best to _try_ and fill a little bit of the hole their mother will leave behind.

Perhaps that's why his bond with Mabel is stronger. She reminds him of his little girl. It gives him a chance to start over, he supposes.

 _Stop getting emotional, old man,_ he scolds himself, glancing at the clock. _About another thirty minutes until I pick them up... better watch some TV to pass the time._

He watches some mindless TV show without really watching and waits for the time he goes to get his great niece and nephew. Before he knows it he's pulling up and seeing both talking excitedly. When inside the car they gush about the party/ball the entire ride home and he has to push them into a room and a bathroom to get changed (he knows they're twins, but he knows they're well past the stage of seeing one another naked all the time). They continue to chatter until he orders them to bed.

"Awww, c'mon Grunkle Stan, just a few minutes?" Dipper whines.

"No can do, kiddo... but you can tell me more about it tomorrow," he promises as he tucks the boy in and ruffles his head fondly before giving the boy a kiss on the forehead.

"But-"

"No buts, Mabel," he interrupts, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "You two need some rest. G'night kids."

"Night, Grunkle Stan," the both of them chorus.

He kicks on the nightlight for Mabel and closes the door partially., deciding that when the time came he'd try to teach them what a mother's supposed to because they'll need it. _Boy, will they need it..._

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HAT: I decided to write this because there are times when birthmothers aren't actually mothers (for multiple reason) and some aunt or even a father or other male figure (in this case Grunkle Stan) has to step up to the plate and take over the woman's position because there's no one else to do that for the kid(s). A little family bonding and all.

Stan: *crosses arms and grunts* Where's the money kid?

HAT: You signed the contract and it said you'd do this willingly without payment!

Stan: Where was that?!

HAT: *pulls it out* The first line!

Stan: That's tiny writing.

HAT: *rolls her eyes* Please say it.

Stan: Review.


End file.
